Air Conditioning - short cycling

my condenser unit outside the house is short cycling and i need to figure out what the problem is bc its running up my electric bill. it will run for a minute then shut off for about 15 seconds and then turn back on and keep doing that. it only seems to do it at night for some reason. i replaced the capacitor and checked the freon charge and its still doing it. i dont know what else to check. any advice would be appreciated. thanks

Is both indoor and out door units doing this or just the outdoor unit?

If both is doing it, then it may be the t-stat. Is there a vent near the t-stat that the air flow is throwing it off?

What method was used to check the freon charge. Sounds to me it has a low charge and is cycling on the low pressure switch. You should call a pro and have it fixed as a compressor running like this won't run for long.:(

actually, the freon was on the high side. it was near 1.5 times what it was supposed to be. a buddy of mine that has some gauges put them on there to read it. there are no vents anywhere near the thermostat, but the condensor only seems to do it when it is maintaining a temperature, it doesnt do it when it is cooling the house down.

I take it's fixed or still doing it?

Your buddy in the HVAC field? What did he do with the extra charge?